Colossians

New Testament · 4 chapters · 95 verses.

Chapter 1

1:1Paul, an apostle of Jesus the Anointed One through the will of God, and Timothy the brother,
1:2to the holy ones in Colossae and faithful brothers in the Anointed One: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus the Anointed One.
1:3We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One, always praying for you,
1:4having heard of your faith in Jesus the Anointed One and of the love you have for all the holy ones,
1:5because of the hope laid up for you in the heavens, which you heard of beforehand in the word of the truth of the good news,
1:6which has come to you, as also in all the world, and is bearing fruit and increasing, as also among you, from the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth,
1:7as you also learned from Epaphras, our beloved fellow-servant, who is a faithful servant of the Anointed One for you,
1:8Who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
1:9Because of this, from the day we heard it, we also do not cease praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,
1:10so as to walk worthily of the Lord, pleasing Him in all things, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God,
1:11being strengthened with all power, according to the might of His glory, for all endurance and long-suffering with joy,
1:12giving thanks to the Father, who qualified us for the share of the inheritance of the holy ones in the light,
1:13who rescued us from the authority of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
1:14In whom we have the redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins,
1:15Who is the image of the invisible God, firstborn of all creation,
1:16because in Him all things were created—those in the heavens and those upon the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
1:17And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
1:18And He is the head of the body—the Assembly—who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself might become first in all things,
1:19Because all the fullness was pleased to dwell in Him,
1:20and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him, whether things upon the earth or things in the heavens.
1:21And you, who were once alienated and enemies in mind by evil works, He has now reconciled
1:22in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, without blemish, and blameless before Him,
1:23if indeed you remain in the faith, founded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the good news which you heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under Heaven, of which I, Paul, became a servant.
1:24I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking of the afflictions of the Anointed One for His body, which is the Assembly,
1:25of which I became a servant according to the stewardship of God given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God—
1:26the secret hidden from the ages and from the generations, but now revealed to His holy ones,
1:27to whom God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this secret among the nations: the Anointed One in you, the hope of glory.
1:28Him we proclaim, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man mature in Jesus the Anointed One.
1:29For this I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me in power.

Chapter 2

2:1For I wish you to know how great a struggle I have for you and those in Laodicea, and as many as have not seen my face in the flesh,
2:2that their hearts may be comforted, being united in love and brought to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the full knowledge of the secret of the God and Father, and of the Anointed One,
2:3in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.
2:4And I say this so that no one may deceive you with persuasive speech.
2:5For even if I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order and the steadfastness of your faith in the Anointed One.
2:6Therefore, as you received the Anointed One Jesus the Lord, walk in Him,
2:7being rooted and built up in Him and confirmed in the faith, as you were taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
2:8See that no one carries you away as spoil through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elements of the world, and not according to the Anointed One.
2:9For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells bodily,
2:10and you are made full in Him, who is the head of every ruler and authority.
2:11In Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of the Anointed One,
2:12having been buried with Him in immersion, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
2:13And you, being dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,
2:14having blotted out the handwriting in the ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
2:15Having stripped the rulers and authorities, He exposed them openly, triumphing over them in it.
2:16Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival, or a new moon, or Sabbaths,
2:17which are a shadow of the things to come, but the body belongs to the Anointed One.
2:18Let no one deprive you of the prize, delighting in humility and worship of angels, intruding into things he has not seen, vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh,
2:19and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, supplied and knit together through the joints and bands, grows with the growth of God.
2:20If, then, you died with the Anointed One from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances—
2:21“Do not touch, nor taste, nor handle”—
2:22all of which are for destruction with use, according to the commands and teachings of men?
2:23These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed worship, humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Chapter 3

3:1If, then, you were raised with the Anointed One, seek the things above, where the Anointed One is, seated at the right hand of God.
3:2Mind the things above, not the things upon the earth.
3:3For you died, and your life has been hidden with the Anointed One in God.
3:4When the Anointed One, our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
3:5Therefore put to death your members that are upon the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry,
3:6because of which things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience,
3:7in which you yourselves once walked, when you lived in them.
3:8But now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy speech from your mouth.
3:9Do not lie to one another, having put off the old man with his practices
3:10and put on the new, who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
3:11where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, foreigner, Scythian, slave, or free man, but the Anointed One is all and in all.
3:12Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, put on tender compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and long-suffering,
3:13bearing with one another and forgiving each other, if anyone has a complaint against anyone; as the Anointed One also forgave you, so also must you.
3:14And above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
3:15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which you were also called in one body; and be thankful.
3:16Let the word of the Anointed One dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
3:17And whatever you do, in word or in work, do all things in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
3:18Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
3:19Husbands, love your wives, and do not be bitter toward them.
3:20Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord.
3:21Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
3:22Slaves, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not with eye-service as people-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.
3:23And whatever you do, work from the soul, as to the Lord and not to men,
3:24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance, for you serve the Lord, the Anointed One.
3:25For the one who does wrong will be repaid for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality.

Chapter 4

4:1Masters, give your slaves what is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in the heavens.
4:2Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving,
4:3praying at the same time also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the secret of the Anointed One, because of which I am also bound,
4:4that I may reveal it as I ought to speak.
4:5Walk in wisdom toward those outside, redeeming the time.
4:6Let your word always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
4:7Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow-slave in the Lord, will make known to you all the things concerning me.
4:8I sent him to you for this very purpose, that he might know the things concerning you and comfort your hearts,
4:9with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you all things here.
4:10Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you received commands—if he comes to you, receive him—
4:11and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only fellow-workers from the circumcision for the Kingdom of God who became a comfort to me.
4:12Epaphras, who is one of you, a slave of the Anointed One, greets you, always striving for you in prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.
4:13For I testify of him that he has much zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis.
4:14Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you.
4:15Greet the brothers in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly in his house.
4:16And when the letter has been read among you, cause it also to be read in the assembly of the Laodiceans; and you also read the letter from Laodicea.
4:17And say to Archippus, “See to the ministry that you received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”
4:18The greeting is by my hand, Paul. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. So be it.